According to forecasts, Democrat Katie Hobbs has won the contested gubernatorial election in the US state of Arizona. According to forecasts by the TV channels NBC and CNN, the 52-year-old prevailed against Republican right-wing candidate Kari Lake on Tuesday.

Hobbs served on the state government for the 2020 presidential ballot count challenged by former President Donald Trump and his supporters. Backed by Trump, Lake is among those who have repeated his unsubstantiated claims that Joe Biden won the presidential election through massive fraud.

Former Republican governor Doug Ducey was unable to run due to a term limit. Arizona is considered a contested state in the USA, which has changed more and more from a once republican stronghold in favor of the Democrats. In the election on Tuesday last week, governors were voted on in 36 states. It is the most important office in a federal state, comparable to a prime minister of a federal state in Germany.